More Fabio!

Since the last time I talked about Fabio, I've watched almost all of the Top Chef episodes in existence. Fabio is still a little crazy, but definitely charming, and undoubtedly talented. And when it comes to cooking Italian food, there's no one I trust more to tell me what to do. His bolognese is delicious, simpler than the Williams-Sonoma version I used to make, and great to have on hand in the freezer. I made it two weeks in a row because I couldn't get enough.

The second batch was for Jacob, and we made a gigantic batch of fresh pasta. That's a lot of pasta. I can't stress enough how much more enjoyable rolling pasta is with a helper. I've actually been faithful to Stephanie Izard's pasta recipe, sorry Fabs.

Also thanks to Fabio, I broke down my first chicken. If ever there was a chance of me becoming a vegetarian (a dirty word in the Riddell family), it's gone now. I was getting really frustrated as I was hacking away at the chicken with a not-sharp-enough knife, but it is totally worth it to know that I have prime chicken stock making parts just waiting in my freezer. The whole chicken went into a batch of Mary's famous chicken pot pies. Now a whole chicken in every batch!

If anyone is curious, I got a couple new salad plates from anthropologie, that I really love. Jacob works near a wonderful store in Highland Park, IL and when I go visit him at work I end up wandering around the store forever, admiring all the pretty things. I saw these plates and snatched them up right away. They must have been popular because the anthropologie website is sold out of the plates; only the tea cups are left in Old Havana and Tie-dye Ikat.

Sorry if this post lacks a little focus. I've been a little scatter-brained recently.

Shrooms!

I always forget how delicious mushrooms are, mostly because I don't eat them very often. This recipe for pasta with mushroom ragu falls under the "unoriginal" category, but it's so good it deserves a Mary stamp of approval so to speak. I spotted it in an edition of La Cucina Italiana I borrowed from Jacob's mom on my last visit.

It calls for a mix of several mushrooms and it just so happened that when I went to go buy the groceries, Whole Foods was promoting all kinds of mushrooms. They were on display front and center in the produce section and had descriptions of the flavor of each kind. I chose oyster, porcini, and black foot mushrooms.

This recipe not only wins in the flavor department, but also for being budget friendly. Mushrooms, especially nice ones, come with a big price tag per pound, but since they're so light you end up paying a fraction of that.

Umami of the Heart

Umami is kind of hard to define. In elementary school we learn that our taste buds can detect four qualities: salty, sour, sweet, and bitter. The fifth of these is umami, a savory fullness of the mouth quality. The Japanese word doesn't really have a direct translation in English. It can be detected in foods like green tea, blue cheese, mushrooms, and miso.

Food memory. When I was growing up, my family would order obscene amounts of sushi from a restaurant for dinner. We'd bring it home and eat it, not at the dinner table, but sitting on sofa cushions on the floor around the coffee table. The restaurant would always throw in at least 10 pairs of chopsticks (that's how much sushi we would order) and a free miso soup or seaweed salad, and we'd proceed to polish off the whole party tray for dinner.

The taste of miso soup has always been something rare and comforting. I would only have it when we ordered sushi and in my opinion, one tiny bowl is never enough. I've tried the dried packets that you just add bowling water to, but those are always disappointing.

My quest for miso paste over winter break yielded two kinds. The one in the back I use for dipping my cucumbers, and the one in front I use for miso soup because it has dashi mixed in. Dashi is a fish stock made from bonito flakes. You've probably heard of it if you've watched Top Chef. But for me, it's one step I don't have to do.

Simply bring 1 and 2/3 cup of water to a boil, add a pinch of wakame (dried seaweed, not to be confused with the toasted nori used for sushi) and some cubed tofu and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and dissolve 2 Tbsp miso paste (with dashi stock) and you have an abundance of umami goodness.

It's really good at clearing your sinuses in allergy or cold season, perking you up on a gloomy day like today, and warming your tummy and heart. The Japanese version of chicken soup. Best of all, it's really versatile. In fact I just came up with an idea for a mussel dish...

Thai Tofu w/Minced Pork Soup

In the past few weeks, food took a definitive back seat to music in preparation for my recital. I cut out alcohol and reduced my intake of caffeine two weeks before. I even took up running in the evenings to get my heart in shape for the endurance test that was my recital repertoire, and of course, to lose a few pounds to fit in my recital dress. I still wouldn't call myself chubby, but my waist is definitely not as narrow as it was at this time last year. Being so focused on the music really paid off, because although I didn't drive myself crazy in the practice room (no more than normal), I made it through my recital without any serious brain misfires. You know you're on the right track when you get in bed at night and can't fall asleep until you've involuntarily sung and fingered through the whole Strauss oboe concerto.

One recital and research paper later, my brain is free to think about food and to get cravings. This weekend I was hit with a craving for a soup from my favorite Thai restaurant, Crystal Thai, which is unfortunately 350 miles away. So, in lieu of the real thing I decided to make my own tofu w/minced pork soup. After a quick analysis of how I remember the soup tasting and how one might go about making it, I headed to Whole Foods. While Whole Foods had most of the more exotic things I was looking for, like savoy cabbage and lemon grass, they were entirely out of ground pork. I headed to Dave's Market, where I bought the last pound of ground pork left in Cleveland, and some much more expensive ground veal to supplement. In hind sight, ground turkey might have been a smarter choice.

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs ground pork
1 egg
1 thumb-length piece of ginger
3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp canola oil
2 leeks, cleaned and sliced
1 stalk lemon grass
2 cups (plus some extra) chicken stock
5 cups water
1 head savoy cabbage, cored and cut into chunks
2 blocks of firm tofu, cut into 1.5 inch cubes
1 small bunch cilantro
salt and pepper

Directions:
In a bowl, combine the meat, egg, salt and pepper, 3/4 of the ginger, grated, and 1 clove garlic, put through a garlic press.

In a soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat and saute the leeks until translucent. Add 2 cloves minced garlic and the remaining ginger, also minced. Cook for 1 minute. Add 2 cups chicken stock and the lemon grass and bring to a boil.

Pinch off 1-inch balls of meat mixture and add to the stock. Add enough water to cover, or about 5 cups, and bring to a boil while stirring gently. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer, covered for 1 hour.

Add the cabbage, tofu, and a few springs of cilantro and cook, uncovered, until cabbage is tender, about 15-20 minutes. If stronger flavor is desired, add more chicken stock. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Serve with a garnish of cilantro, chili oil, or bean sprouts.

I was extremely pleased that the soup ended up tasting exactly how I remember. The only difference was the texture of the meat. I guess when they say minced, they mean minced, not ground, but I wouldn't have made it any other way. Now I have lunch for the rest of the week!